User blog:Tommygun9504/Controversies In Combat Arms No.2 - Specialists.
I got positive comments on my first post, so here is the promised follow-up to it. The Infected regroup to swarm the office area. As they start to rush the defenses en masse, a figure clad in black with a gray vest presses a button. Boom! Claymores detonate on one path to the office. The other path is covered by an officer with battle scars on his face, wielding an oversized Minigun. His squad rushes inside the safe room. Another human, a female this time, with brown hair tied back in a ponytail, steps to the window, M32 in hand. She proceeds to wipe out the remaining Infected. Soon after, the humans win the round, with 30 seconds left on the clock. Ladies and Gentlemen, what the Infected just fell prey to, were Specialists. They have been the subject of much controversy since they entered Combat Arms. Many players first thought they were just better-looking Mercenaries. However, they couldn't be more wrong. Specialists come standard with huge speed and defense boosts, thanks to their Combat Suits, the offspring of vests, and speed gear. Thanks to these, a player may have the protection of a Heavy Vest, with the speed boost of a Medium Vest, and damage and headshot protection on top of that. Subject to more controversy are the Specialist Only weapons. I will now lay out the Specialists and their weapons in a fashion similar to the hacks section in the first episode. Specialists: Codename Viper: *Protection: Medium Vest Protection *Speed +15% (Light Vest speed) *Sprint Stamina +30% Codename Scorpion: *Protection: Heavy Vest Protection *Speed: +10% Speed *Damage Protection: +15% *Headshot Protection: +40% Codename Hawk: *Protection: Balanced Vest-level protection *Speed: +16 *Headshot Protection: + 35% Codename Raven: *Protection: Light Vest level protection *Speed: +18 *Stamina +30 Captain Souza: *Protection: -5% *Speed: +17% *Stamina: +30% Specialist Only Items: Airstrike Designator - Laser Guided Bomb or Napalm: Designates a target area for aerial bombing by any of the listed ordnance. Cannot be used indoors. You guess why? Usually used on modes that aren't Fireteam or QR. Auto Turret: Deployable automatic turret that can be devastating in Quarantine Regen, when used in group defense, or on any other game mode when placed in a strategic area. Caltrops: Small spikes that, when stepped on, cause a victim to bleed out. Will also slow victims down. Rarely used, but you will sometimes see them. Claymores: Remote detonation mines that channel force in front of the mine, leaving people behind it relatively unscathed. Used on QR, Cabin Fever, Black Lung, and by campers. First Aid Kit: Used to heal any injuries suffered by their team, by creating a healing area. Used mainly on Cabin Fever ands Black Lung, and also on Nemexis HQ, usually when in the lobby and when fighting D.R.E.A.D, when the players are not on the offensive. Flamethrower: Throws fire. Used on any missions with the Infected, whether QR or Fireteam. M134 Minigun: Call it a massively OP machine gun. Used practically anywhere. M32: Multiple Grenade Launcher. Used mostly on QR, especially Overdose. M32 Incendiary: MGL that fires incendiary grenades. Used on Cabin Fever and Black Lung, also on CQB maps, with devastating results. M32 Stun Grenade: Don't be fooled by the name, because this MGL actually fires nerve gas grenades. Almost never used, which is a shame, because it is as powerful as the other variants. The linked page even states that barely anyone knows what it does. M93 Hornet Mines: Very big, very powerful mines. Very detectable. Because of this, they are usually placed right around corners, where unsuspecting people fall into them. Used on any maps that have corners, apart from Nemexis HQ, Desert Thunder and Desert Fox. Medkit: Injects the user with a 45 HP boost. Used right after you get owned in a firefight with a Specialist that has one. Remote Grenade: The same as a Claymore, but force from the blast goes everywhere, not just the 180 degrees in front of the mine. Satellite Scanner: Chams, anyone? Shows players on the user's screen, the same way as chams. Also broadcasts enemy locations to friendly minimaps. Stamina Kit: Gives the user unlimited stamina for a period of time. Licenses: Specialist 2 Slot License: Allows a Specialist to carry two items listed above. Specialist Backpack License: Gives a Specialist another weapon slot. Now for discussion. You have a Trainee that's just come back from 7/11 to buy some chips and drinks for the week, and guess what? They've brought back some bloody huge amount of NX. So what do they do? Buy a 30 Day Scorpion, a Minigun, a 2-Slot License, and an M32. Put some M69HE-NL frags in, a G18 Cobra, maybe an M416 CQB to top it off, and now they have "NX Noob" written all over from head to toe. He goes and joins a Spy Hunt with 8 people. The Super Spy emerges quickly, but it's not him. The rest of his poor little team of Privates, Corporals and Sergeants go down fast as the Super Spy mows them all down. So now the NX Noob soloes it against the Super Spy. Was it tough? Hell no.The SS uploads, thinking the NX Noob is cowering in a corner. 2 HE Frags and an M32 nade later, and the NX Noob is instantly promoted to Sergeant. Look me in the eye, and tell me there's no balancing issues here. This Specialist kit needs to be either NUBAR (Nerfed up beyond all recognition) or made available to everyone. In the words of a wise player I met during a QR game, "How much skill does it really take to set down a Claymore?" If you're cashed up like the NX Noob, well, good for you, but if you've only got GP, you'll wish you were the NX Noob. The reason is simple. The prices are downright robbery. You will need over 50000 GP to buy a Specialist and gear for a month. Then there's the rank restrictions. Then there's those GP Perms you've been saving for. It's just not worth it to get a Specialist with GP. So what do you do? Get NX. Well done. You have fallen into yet another of Nexon's schemes to make people get NX. Is it really too much to ask, just to have GP prices for Specialists more reasonable? You'd have to rob one of Nemexis' banks to get that sort of GP, well, at the current prices anyway. Now there's the outrageous boosts. Just look at Raven's speed boosts. You'd need to get all the speed boosting gear in the freaking Black Market to have a shot at racing her. Speaking of racing, Raven's so fast as an Infected that she could race in the Indy 500. I bet Nemexis will sponsor her for that. Back to topic, the boosts are UNBELIEVABLE. I mean, seriously. 40% Headshot Protection for Scorpion, when all he wears over his head is fabric? Come on now. Even a Combat Helmet doesn't give you half that. I have seen Scorpion tank a headshot from a Black Magnum. Only the Tanker Infected should be able to do that. If a cloth gives such realistic headshot protection, maybe I should shoot Kalika when she has a cloth over her head, and see if she survives? No? I thought so. Specialists are "carefully selected and raised from birth to be the ultimate combination of strength, stealth, brilliance and skill." Players are meant to learn these attributes, not have them handed to them on a silver plate by buying a Specialist. Especially skill. Specialists have no skill. What do they have? Weapons so OP that the only weapon that could take them down easily is the M419 Combat CQB SE CAMO Black MOD LE. And knowing Nexon, that might soon be released as a Specialist weapon. It's no wonder people tried to remove Specialists from the game. Hell, even a "No Specialists" gaming option might be nice. Everyone will use it, mark my words. And so ends another ginormous rant. I will go relieve my rage at Nexon by attaching their logo to a punching bag. Post your opinions and ideas for new topics in the comments below. Thank you, and goodnight. Category:Blog posts